XRI Announces Acquisition of Hibernia’s Water Infrastructure Assets

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--XRI Holdings, LLC (“XRI” or the “Company”), the leading full-cycle water management and midstream company with fixed infrastructure owned throughout the Permian Basin, announced today that it has acquired the produced water infrastructure assets of Hibernia Energy III, LLC (“Hibernia”) through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Celtic Disposal, LLC (“Celtic”).

Through this transaction, XRI will become the long-term provider to Hibernia of all water-related services to Hibernia, including delivery of completions water and handling of produced water.

In addition, this acquisition enables XRI to capture significant third-party opportunities in the area with both new and existing customers.

“We are delighted with the acquisition of these first-class produced water infrastructure assets and look forward to a long-term commercial partnership with a premier operator like Hibernia,” said XRI CEO Matthew Gabriel. “Hibernia’s produced water assets directly overlay XRI’s existing midstream infrastructure and recycling assets in the Midland Basin, an area where XRI has significant operating expertise and deep customer relationships that will support further commercialization of the acquired produced water infrastructure assets.”

Embry Canterbury, CEO of Hibernia, stated, “The disposition of our Celtic infrastructure assets will support the development of Hibernia’s high-quality acreage position, and we look forward to XRI’s operational and commercial expertise that will optimize the existing produced water system for reliability, flexibility, and expansion.”

Gabriel added, “The direct tie-in to XRI’s existing Midland Basin midstream infrastructure and recycling assets is something that we’re very excited about. The combination of veteran operations teams and high-quality resources will support our operational plans to recycle more than 185 million barrels of water in the Permian Basin this year.”

Celtic was formed in 2019 to serve the saltwater disposal needs of both Hibernia and other leading operators. Hibernia, a portfolio company of NGP Natural Resources XII L.P. (“NGP”) is a leading oil producer in the Midland Basin, with 35,000 gross / 33,000 net acres in Reagan and Upton Counties, Texas.

Hibernia is uniquely positioned to quickly grow production with a supportive equity sponsor, low leverage, a veteran operations team, and a deep inventory of highly economic drilling locations.

Sidley Austin LLP served as legal counsel to XRI on the transaction and Baker Botts LLP served as legal counsel to Hibernia.

About XRI

XRI is the leading full-cycle water management and produced water midstream company with advanced water recycling and sustainable water infrastructure. XRI operates over 350 miles of permanent pipelines, with an aggregated system capacity to run approximately 1.25 million barrels per day. XRI is revolutionizing the water midstream industry by focusing on the recycling of produced water, reducing industry reliance on potable water sources, and by engaging in and providing ESG-focused solutions for the benefit of all stakeholders. XRI is a portfolio company of Morgan Stanley Energy Partners. For more information, please visit xriwater.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Hibernia and Celtic

Hibernia is an acquisition and development company focused on the exploration, growth and production of oil and natural gas assets. It is a portfolio company of NGP. Celtic is a fully owned subsidiary of Hibernia that was formed in 2019 to serve the saltwater disposal needs of both Hibernia and regional operators in Reagan and Upton Counties, TX.

About Morgan Stanley Energy Partners

Morgan Stanley Energy Partners, the energy-focused private equity business of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, is a leading energy private equity platform that makes privately negotiated equity and equity-related investments in energy companies located primarily in North America. Morgan Stanley Energy Partners pursues a differentiated investment strategy, focused on the buyout and buildup of strategically attractive, established energy businesses across the energy value chain in partnership with world-class management teams. For further information about Morgan Stanley Energy Partners, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

About NGP

Founded in 1988, NGP is a premier private equity firm in the natural resources industry with approximately $17 billion of cumulative equity commitments organized to make strategic investments in the energy and natural resources sectors. For more information on NGP, please visit www.ngpenergycapital.com.